We Say The Shit You Won't

“Princeton Offense” sets the stage for Tyrone and Tandy’s pursuit for justice, while also reminding us for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Read on for our Cloak & Dagger review.

While many of Cloak & Dagger’s episodes have served to highlight the individual storylines of Tyrone and Tandy, “Princeton Offense” reminded us that this story is about two people that are linked together. While we continue to explore Ty and Tandy’s individual storylines — as they’re two people that couldn’t be more different aiming to find closure for two different tragedies — there was also the point to be made that as they continue to use and develop their abilities, the more we’re going to see just how linked they are.Physics and Sir Isaac Newton pretty much covered the theme of Cloak & Dagger’s latest episode highlighting the following:

“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Basically, for every action you make something else occurs as a result. It’s a theme that did well to highlight the link between Tyrone and Tandy, as Tandy began to explore her abilities and Ty received the bill, so to speak. With Tandy using her ability to see Roxxon members’ “hopes,” she was able to discover the Mystery Man that might be responsible for all of this. But in doing so, her experimenting with controlling and using her new ability cause Ty’s ability to fall out of whack.It’s interesting because right now, Tandy appears to have a better handle on her ability than Ty. After last week’s episode, Tandy had to almost kill herself to “activate” her ability. As Tandy did the same to Ty this week — forcing him back to the basketball game after he’d wound up at the Roxxon gala — it wasn’t clear if he’d done the same. In fact, if that ending is proof of anything, it’s that Ty still doesn’t have control over his ability. But that’s what’s so great about origin stories. He’s going to continue to grow and learn how to control his ability. When he starts trying. We’ve seen Tandy actively using her power and learning to control it. Ty is still very green in using his power. It’s kind of fun watching them start off where they’re at and knowing what’s to come.But “Princeton Offense” also served to highlight these two characters’ individual journeys. Tandy set her sights on Roxxon, looking for the Mystery Man responsible for her world falling apart. Tyrone started to realize that his decisions are important. Hell, even O’Reilly — unknowingly — began to set her own story into motion as she has set off down a dark path with Connors that she might not make it back from.Cloak & Dagger continues to weave compelling and thought-provoking episodes that are equally as enjoyable in their mystery and the tease of what’s to come. “Princeton Offense” feels like we’re about to really delve into these personal journeys with Tandy and Tyrone. Tandy has found the man she’s after. Tyrone had already found his — but he found a way to get to him.We also started to see the development of Tyrone and Tandy’s friendship, which still has a lot of growth to undergo before this thing can become anything romantic. But it was nice to see them interacting, laughing, and seeing that chemistry on display. It’s a reminder of what’s to come in world that has so much more to explore and so much to offer.Let’s talk a little more about “Princeton Offense,” including Tandy’s digging on Roxxon, Tyrone getting his priorities straight, and O’Reilly’s dark descent.

Tandy Sets Her Sights on Roxxon

(Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani)

I feel like last week’s episode lit an even greater fire under Tandy in her goal of finding out the truth about Roxxon and bringing them down. After Greg — the man that wanted to be her father figure and the man that Tandy was starting to get attached to — was murdered by a Roxxon employee for digging around about Roxxon, Tandy seemed to take that weight upon her shoulders. It was almost as if Tandy now feels compelled to get justice not only for her father and her mother and the life that was taken for her, but also for Greg, who was killed for trying to help. To help her. And her mom.But it also reminded Tandy that she can’t get too close to people. Because not only do bad things happen, but she can’t risk anything or anyone getting in the way of her pursuit of justice.When we find Tandy at the beginning of this episode — after she tried to kill herself to “activate” her power — she’s obsessing over a mound of paperwork with Roxxon logos. She’s determined to find the one thing — or person — that links all of this together. Her dad’s murder. The crane. The cover-up. Who is behind it?Tandy is a lot of things, but resourceful might be high up on her list of strengths. She’s someone that’s very good at playing a role to get close to people. And now that’s been able to control her abilities — the dagger and seeing people’s hopes from a touch — she’s using those tools to get what she needs.After some research, Tandy found some B-list Roxxon corporate heads that she could use to somehow find her way to the Mystery Man that seems to be behind all of this. Equipped with her resourcefulness and charm, Tandy infiltrated a Roxxon party with her eyes set on digging into the minds of these B-listers and trying to find a common connection. And she did. Although, Tandy was in for a rude awakening at the realization that the man at the center of this is Peter Scarborough, the man that came knocking down her door when she was 9-years old and took everything that was her dad’s claiming it belonged to Roxxon. It’s a face she couldn’t believe she forgot. And she wouldn’t again.Tandy is out for justice, but we know that her motivations are fueled by rage, which shows itself as vengeance. She shows up at Scarborough’s home, posing as a student, and asks for assistance with a flat tire. We see her dagger appear and know instantaneously why Tandy showed up: To kill him.You can see the anger and hate in her eyes in the beginning. But as she holds the dagger and prepares to use it, you can see those emotions transform into fear and sadness. The dagger disappears. She tried to kill him, but she couldn’t do it. She might be incredibly angry, but she’s not a murderer, as her hesitancy and control proved.Instead, she touches him to glimpse his hope. Though what could this guy possibly want? One guess. Money, money, money. His hope is himself making money, and lots of it, off of dead Roxxon workers. It’s an eerie sight. All he cares about is getting ahead and money. And the vision seems to hint that he’s responsible for their deaths. But she sees one fight back, until he strangles him dead. Tandy gets a name: “Ivan Hess.”Earlier that night, Tandy ran into a woman named Nina Hess, who happens to be the daughter of Ivan. As we learn, her father was involved in the Roxxon accident. But it doesn’t sound like he’s dead. But Nina did receive financial assistance from Roxxon and now serves as an environmental specialist for the company. Nina represents the antithesis of Tandy. Her father was in an accident, but Nina didn’t lose him. Nina didn’t lose everything because of the accident, not like Tandy did. You know that Nina is Tandy’s next target in her pursuit of justice and figuring out what the hell happened with Roxxon. Also, how did Nina’s dad know her father?

Tyrone Gets His Priorities Straight

(Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani)In the beginning of this episode, Tyrone is sitting down with Detective O’Reilly trying to find a way to help her bring him down. O’Reilly turned to him and said, “You can stay alive” and “Just be a kid.” And it kind of made you realize just how important and dangerous what Tyrone has now gotten himself into.But in “Princeton Offense,” Ty took O’Reilly’s advice. He focused on just being a kid. And being a kid included the State Basketball Championship game, which seemed to have an incredible bearing on Ty due to this internal pressure to live up to his brother’s performance but also to honor his brother. As Tyrone’s journey revolves around his pursuit of justice for his brother, which includes going toe-to-toe with Connors, you begin to see how Ty’s morals are guiding him in the right direction. The basketball game is the perfect example.As Ty was struggling with his ability going out of whack (as Tandy experimented with hers), we started to get a look at the injustices that were going on in the lives involved in this game. The referee, who was calling everything for St. Sebastian’s Prep, because he owes money to a bookie. The players, who are afraid of being beat or injured. Ty’s ability to see people’s fears has a different effect than Tandy seeing hopes. It’s almost as if these abilities as mirror opposite of the individual. Like Tandy is the darker one, so she sees hopes. Tyrone is not as dark and dreary, so he sees fears. It makes for a really interesting dynamic.Anyway, as Tyrone is going down the court with the ball in his hands and the game on the line, we start to see the gears turning in Ty’s head. Instead of going for the easy win, he takes a long jumper and misses costing St. Sebastian Prep the title. But as Ty stands on the court — watching his opponents celebrate — he smiles. He knows that he did a good thing. Besides, how important is a basketball game in the grand scheme of things? There are more important things in life.But this episode set the stage for both Tyrone and Tandy to dig deeper into their own justices. At the end of the episode, Tyrone found himself at his brother’s friend’s warehouse talking to Connors. Wayne was working with Connors to transport drugs — doing so knowing that Connors was the one that killed Billy.Just like Tandy’s moment came when she saw Greg shot and murdered by Roxxon, Tyrone’s moment came in witnessing this partnership and seeing how Connors — the man that killed his brother — was now controlling his brother’s friend. This was the catalyst that will set Tyrone off. While O’Reilly told Tyrone to “live” and “be a kid,” witnessing that exchange pushed all of that out of his head. Now an opportunity for justice has presented itself. And Tyrone, who has been known to do the right thing, is doing to do what he believes is the right thing.

Is O’Reilly Headed Down a Dangerous Path?

(Freeform/Skip Bolen)As Cloak & Dagger continues to explore the inner workings of the police force and illustrating examples of “bad cops” and “good cops,” I find myself so compelled by Detective O’Reilly and her role on this show. Whether it was trying to help Tandy, because it was the right thing, or now to taking down Connors, because it’s the right thing, O’Reilly is showing us that she’ll do whatever it takes to deliver justice. Including going down a dangerous path that she might not be able to escape.In “Princeton Offense,” Tyrone went to O’Reilly for help in taking down Connors. O’Reilly already followed her gut in knowing that there’s something bad about the guy. And while she couldn’t help Ty get Connors for killing his brother, Ty did provide another way to take down Connors: Through a drug bust.The thing about O’Reilly is that I so desperately want to know more about her backstory. What went down in Harlem? What drives her? Why is she willing to throw her life and well-being down to get the bad guy? Like I watch some of the things she’s doing — whether she was actually doing cocaine and running head-on into danger — and sometimes I believe her. I believe that this isn’t the first time she’s done this. That she’s traveled down a dark road before. But what if this path proves to be too dark and dangerous?Everything that O’Reilly did in this episode was to find a way to lure Connors in. She busted a lady for cocaine. She was doing lines of it in her desk to lure Connors to her. “Tell me what are you doing — and do you have enough to share?” Hook, bait, and sinker. O’Reilly is going undercover with Connors. She’s playing her role to perfection. “We should ride together some time.” She got him.But will he pull her in too deep? Connors is a terrible man. He’s done and will continue to do terrible things, which will no doubt force O’Reilly to do as a result. For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction, remember? I just hope O’Reilly will come away from this intact.